The invention relates to a method for the production of bellows members from elastically deforming annular elements which are alternately united with each other at inner and outer peripheries. The invention also relates to a support fixture for use in the manufacture of the bellow members.
Such bellows members may be for example used as protective boots in all applications in which a moving element is to be sealed off from the surroundings, as for instance in connection with cylinder actuators. In the prior art there have been proposals to unit the individual annular elements by soldering, brazing, adhesive bonding or resistance welding. However complex methods are needed for practicing such processes in order to ensure the necessary high quality of the joins. The heating of the annular elements which is necessary in all methods with the exception of adhesive bonding is a disadvantage in connection with many materials. In the case of soldering, brazing and bonding the molten metal or the adhesive is inclined to run so that no neat and regular join may be produced. This is more especially true in the case of the internal joins which it is hardly possible inspect during welding.